Oral Presentation by Juliane Sim¹
¹ Praxis für Psychotherapie, Germany
TIME: Tuesday, 14 July, 14:30 – 16:00
Location: Room 3
Session: 7
Abstract
Psychotherapy has been shown to be effective in reducing symptoms and disease burden while increasing life satisfaction. Although the officially endorsed framework is a biopsychosocial model of mental illness, concepts of disease development and treatment in clinical practice remain largely centered on individual responsibility. Psychotherapy often assumes implicitly that after treatment, a person will naturally live an emancipated life and act with social responsibility. However, current social developments call this assumption into question. In the context of multiple, intersecting crises (social polarization, group-based hatred, and erosion of democratic values), many individuals report feeling increasingly powerless to engage in societal change. Despite comparatively broad access to psychotherapy in Germany, this treatment availability does not appear to translate into greater social agency or participation. Based on an enactive approach this presentation proposes a framework that seeks to move beyond a neoliberal understanding of mental health. Psychological distress is conceptualized as emerging from the interaction of societal norms and social relations, alongside parental influences and individual core beliefs. Building on schema therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), an adapted schema mode model is introduced that integrates recent research on embodiment, sociological determinants of distress, and the internalization of social narratives. Concrete therapeutic methods and practices will be presented, which support a deeper understanding of individual behavior by making visible the influence of societal norms on thinking, feeling, and acting, even when these norms are consciously rejected. Particular attention is given to patterns of the inner critic as largely implicit carriers of social expectations. Finally, the presentation argues that compassion-based and values-oriented work can support forms of critical reflection that link emotional processing with ethical and social responsibility. Such an approach enables patients not only to experience personal improvement, but also to relate their mental health to the social conditions in which they live and to reflect on their role in responding to the challenges of a world shaped by polycrisis.